Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

Holiday Message: Reflections on Immortality

The final Mindscape podcast of each year is devoted to a short, reflective Holiday Message. This year the theme is Immortality: whether it's an attractive idea, and whether the laws of physics and cosmology would allow for it in principle. (Spoiler: they do not.) Mindscape will return as usual on January 1, 2024. Happy holidays everyone!Blog post with transcript: <a href="https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/12/18/holiday-message-2023-reflections-on-immortality/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/12/18/holiday-message-2023-reflections-on-immortality/</a>Support Mindscape on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Patreon</a>.Here are some of the stories and papers mentioned in the episode:<a href="https://matiane.wordpress.com/2019/10/11/immortal-by-jorge-luis-borges/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Borges, "The Immortal"</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-history-of-the-world-in-10-1-2-chapters-julian-barnes/6702782?ean=9780679731375" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Barnes, A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters</a><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80113701" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Good Place</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/stories-of-your-life-and-others-lib-e-ted-chiang/16687839?ean=9781101972120" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chiang, Stories of Your Life and Others</a><a href="https://www.panspermia.org/revmodphys.51.447.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dyson, "Time Without End: Physics and Biology in an Open Universe"</a> See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

Ever wanted to know how music affects your brain, what quantum mechanics really is, or how black holes work? Do you wonder why you get emotional each time you see a certain movie, or how on earth video games are designed? Then you’ve come to the right place. Each week, Sean Carroll will host conversations with some of the most interesting thinkers in the world. From neuroscientists and engineers to authors and television producers, Sean and his guests talk about the biggest ideas in science, philosophy, culture and much more.